As someone with crippling migraines, I am never ever questioning how debilitating someone else’s pain is.
I used to get those too when I was younger. I don’t envy you a bit there. I haven’t had one in over 20 years and the memory of them still frightens me.
I’ve had exactly one migraine and at every spike of it I remembered those stories of people who shoot themselves because of pain and was sad in the moment (but happy after) that I didn’t have a gun cuz I’d have absolutely used it
I would get blind spots in my vision about an hour before migraines would hit.
My plan if I ever see them again is to take my pistol to the truck and lock it in the hidden gun safe before going back inside and waiting for the migraine to hit.
I get migraines - not as bad now, post menopause and on low dose daily HRT that seems to prevent most of them.
But absolutely the worst pain I’ve ever felt is migraine, and I’ve had unmedicated childbirth, broken bones, plenty of injuries, IUDs put in, nothing has even approached the pain level of a migraine. I used to not understand when the doctor would ask how bad it hurt on scale of 1-10 because it exists outside that scale.
Back pain I think is similar, but probably its own sort of hell because it immobilizes people.
That part about the pain scale is spot on. HRT and adequate anxiety and pain medication have made mine less common and intense too. I don’t know how or why though.
Imho the weirdest thing about migraines is when you’re 4 to 5 hours deep and suddenly your brain goes out in a bang. The pain subsides for a bit and you feel that weird euphoric feeling.
The third pain that can compare to that according to what I’ve heard is tooth ache. Although I’m blessed enough to never have had any issues in that department.
I think it just smooths out the ups and downs; birth control pills made mine so much worse, I didn’t realize it until I had to stop them, and it made me very wary of the HRT but it is the opposite effect somehow. Anti anxiety probably same, the main trigger I have now is relaxation - if I am busy or stressed, then it eases, I will wake up with a headache. So I’d imagine if the stress itself is interrupted and the intense relaxation also, that would help.
I’ve experienced migraines of all severity levels since I was a teenager. I have a top 5 list of the worst migraines I’ve ever experienced. Number 3 was the one where my husband found me sitting at the kitchen table with a spoon in my hand completely out of it. When he asked me what I was doing I told him I was considering gouging my eye out. Number 2 was the three days I lost to absence seizures. I actually called out of work twice within a few hours because my autopilot is strong and my brain was gone. I almost lost my job for that one. Number one was the time literally crawled through the house on my belly for the phone and gave up in the living room before passing out. All I can remember of that one was laying there feeling my heart beat in my fucking eyelashes for what felt like ages. That was the one that made me go see a neurologist. I would never ever not believe someone’s pain experience.
